1940's Hall of Fame II

Another 10 minutes and Roberts' gets raped by a redneck and Charley is home free.

Good News!

I just talked to Camo and he's still in and he will be watching the rest of the movies and sending in a list. So his nomination Odd Man Out, is still in the Hof.

BTW, there's 6 weeks left to watch all the films.

I PMed Blix and got no response. I suggest saving his movie for last as I believe he has dropped out and so his movie Gentleman Jim will most likely be disqualified.

As i said to Citizen i'm really not bothered if Odd Man Out is taken out since you all had a few weeks less to watch it. Up to you guys.

Also i love seeing this post at the top of the page without any context from a film i've not seen i guess.

Glad to see Odd Man Out back in the voting! VERY cool!!

I finished I Remember Mama last night so that leaves me with 4 movies to go

__________________
What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

The Sea Wolf

I liked this alot more than i thought i was going to, i just assumed it would be about the Government Navy most likely during WW1 and i expected to be bored by it. It got me interested early when it became clear this was essentially a private voyage full with shady characters. I've always found that sort of thing interesting with the harshness of the sea, being stuck on a boat for weeks with most likely criminals and grizzled ex military men, the lawlessness and this particular voyage felt pretty mysterious from the start. The best part of this was easily Wolf, he was perfect right from the moment Humphrey introduced himself and Wolf gave him this hardened glare then stomped away for a minute, think he had the perfect look too his build in particular; he looked the right mixture of muscular but worn down and also with fat from hard drinking and hard work and best of all he seemed perpetually angry. And of course there was more to him than the typical low class uneducated hard man captain as he seemed pretty intelligent. Humphrey was cast right too i think, both looks and personality wise he felt completely out of place here i mean his name was Humphrey Van Wyden haha. George Leach was good as well, he was the first one who got me interested even though the punching the guy in the bar as a way of accepting his job offer was silly, he pulled off the rebel role well. Read your guys reviews and i think Citizen brought up a good point that we never find out why he's angry but i must admit that didn't even cross my mind while watching, most likely because i was so into Wolf that i didn't really need George to be anything more. The worst part was by far the romance, i seriously wish that wasn't in this or i may have liked it even more. Actually i wish Webster wasn't in it at all, her introduction was awful from the moment i saw her i was just waiting for a contrived way for them to get a woman on the ship and i thought she added nothing to the film. Also i agree with gbg that it would've been better if the romance was with Humphrey, i doubt i would've liked it either but it wouldn't have felt as much like it came out of nowhere with them having their first scenes together and they did seem like they had better chemistry.

Good nom Ed, i seriously enjoyed watching it when i really didn't expect to going in. I Remember Mama next for me.

I Remember Mama

Could tell right away that this was going to be a very sentimental film, sometimes i like those sorts of films and this was one of those times. It had the very typical kind of music you expect in a film like this which can seriously grate on me if i'm not gelling with the characters and story, thankfully i did here though. Personally i found a few of the performances genuinely bad, whether because they were cartoonish or just plain unbelievable: Oskar Homolka as Uncle Chris for example. I think this confirmed to me that if i like the majority of the elements in a film i can overlook other ones i seriously don't, because as i enjoyed the story and the majority of the performances those bad performances weren't that big of a problem even though they seriously could have been if i found the majority of the film mediocre or worse, i mean Uncle Chris' death worked for me even though i really didn't like the performance/his character. Some of the accents got on my nerves at first, some of them sounded Irish at times then at times they had what in my mind is the stereotypical Scandinavian accent. To be fair though i don't know many Scandinavian's so i can't really say whether these were accurate or not and i eventually got used to them. Irene Dunne was awesome, she completely reminded me of my old fashioned and strong willed female relatives, like a ridiculous amount this film felt seriously familiar because of her. The funny thing is i have a Great Aunt Irene who is one of several relatives she reminded me of. Some of this was very powerful, think the thing that got to me most in the film was when Mama is told she isn't allowed to see Dagmar and she says "But i'm not a visitor, i'm her Mama.", as if motherhood is something so strong that it trumps all rules and laws: and to be honest it should be. That pretty much summed her up, she completely lived for her children and how broken up she was at not being able to keep a promise even though Dagmar was fine was the best, yeah i loved her. Think without going through all of the moments i did and didn't like how i saw the story was possibly emotionally manipulative at certain points but i don't care as it got to me emotionally alot of the time, and that's all that really matters. The only thing i would've asked for was a little more humour, i don't think there was much at all; not asking for this to be part comedy just a scene here and there with some humour to shift the tone a little as it is a 2 Hour + film.

A few things to add after reading your reviews. I personally didn't find the visuals anything special but that's awesome to hear that it was actually filmed about San Francisco in the actual areas it was portraying, wasn't aware and i guess i just assumed it wasn't. Personally i didn't find Uncle Chris believable and i thought Oskar's performance was the weakest in the film, glad you guys liked it tho must admit i'm a little surprised i'm the only one who didn't. This reminded me of How Green Was My Valley too Cricket, i was actually planning on saying so but forgot: never seen The Waltons though. Interesting comparison to Meet Me In St. Louis TN, that hadn't crossed my mind but i see what you mean. Also apparently the humour completely bypassed me as i really didn't notice much and a few of you mentioned it, guess i just didn't find any of it funny and because of that i took it a different way. I did notice some but not enough to describe as "shifting between drama and humour", paraphrasing TN as i can't remember what she said exactly and i can't be bothered going back to look. Don't doubt it was there, again it just passed me.

Sorry if this has been answered: @gbgoodies why would something you don't think would happen now have anything to do with how realistic it was then? I may have picked you up wrong but to me it sounded like you were saying that because something that would have happened 70 years ago wouldn't in 2017 that makes it unrealistic? I don't think 95% of women would be subservient housewives in 2017 but that has nothing to do with them being portrayed that way in the 40's or whenever as it was largely like that back then. I don't even necessarily disagree with your point it's just i don't disagree with that being the reason it is unrealistic. Again i've probably picked you up wrong though.

Solid nom Citizen, despite some problems i genuinely enjoyed this. I can also tell you that i have no idea where i'd place it at this point, the other 7 i have ordered in a private list on Letterboxd but i have no clue where this would go, will just make a snap decision before i send my list i guess. Four (three if Blix is out, hope we find out soon) left, Mr Lucky next for me.

ah, to ACTUALLY read one of your reviews WHEN you post it, Camo!!

The removal of the romance in The Sea Wolf is something I firmly agree on as well and agree completely about Wolf. Someone made a comparison between Wolf being the ship - not sure if that was cricket or raul, but it was an excellent comparison of the two key elements.
As for his actual anger, I think it was the life he led, the inner knowledge of that he was captain of a doomed voyage and having something like chronic headaches would put anyone in a sh!tty mood. There is also the fact that his crew are all derelicts, so you do have to be a more dangerous, angrier person to rule them, I suppose.

I agree about the references to Meet Me in St. Louis and The Waltons and I think my favorite, not including a stellar Irene Dunn, was Dagmar as well. And of course, like others, I did get a kick out of Uncle Chris. It was a bit overplayed, but still.
Won't go into detail, simply because if I did, I'd have nothing to write in my review of it. lol

About The Sea Wolf...I think I've already mentioned this but Ida Lupino asked for her romance role to be extended so more scenes with her and John Garfield were wrote at the last minute. I liked her character as a mysterious shady woman who has done something so bad as to wind up on the ship of the damned. It really was a ship of the damned if you think about it, all except for Humphrey, where people who had literally sold their souls, in one way or another. The Sea Wolf ship was like a ghost ship, always surrounded in fog and darkness...a place where hope has died many years ago.

I remember that about Lupino wanting more scenes and that's how they did it.

I agree with that. The family was living in 1910 a very long time ago, and they were immigrants from Sweden with a different culture that had strong family ties, so I totally believe that there were families like that back then.

Did you ever watch Star Trek Voyager? The Sea Wolf reminds me of an episode where B'Ellana Torres finds herself dead with dishonor and heading to Klingon hell on the Barge of the Dead.

Never got into Voyager, have a younger brother who did. It sounds like one he probably told me about

Yeah, ghost ship crossed my mind while watching. Even if there was no romance i would have preferred it without her as i didn't like the performance or character either. Good tidbit though, i read that in your review earlier and forgot; makes alot of sense as it felt rushed and pointless.

My wife saw bits and pieces of I Remember Mama and remarked how good the lead actress was. She was shocked when I told her she lost out on the Oscar to Jane Wyman for Johnny Belinda, as she was surprised that Wyman could put in a great performance. It got her interested in Johnny Belinda and she really enjoyed that, but anyway she mixed up Wyman with Jane Russell.

I always get Jane Wyman mixed up with Jane Wyatt. I like Jane Wyman better.

I mix up Jane Wyman and Bill Wyman.

I don't remember exactly what I wrote, (and I'm too tired to go look it up right now), but basically what I meant was that it didn't seem realistic to me because people just don't do things like that nowadays. I don't know whether or not it's realistic for its time because I wasn't around back then, but it's hard for me to believe that everyone would just give up so much for others like that, and that everything just works out no matter how bad things get. (There's not even one selfish person in the whole family? )

I still enjoyed the movie, (even more on a second watch), but it just made it more of a fantasy world than reality for me, even though the movie as a whole has a more realistic feel than a fantasy feel.

__________________
.
If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

That all makes sense. Think i did pick you up wrong.

Mr Lucky

Man i love Cary Grant, don't think this was one of his best but i'm still yet to see a bad performance from him. A regular and i think agreeable criticism of Grant is that alot of his performances are similar, personally it doesn't bother me as i like watching him so much but i can't disagree with that from what i've seen so far and it's always nice seeing something different from him; it's probably why i love him in Bringing Up Baby so much. To my surprise i thought he was quite a bit different to how he usually is here, he seemed to be trying a different voice and mannerisms and his character seemed more irritated, less lets everything roll off his back than usual. Was thinking it may have been something to do with him playing a criminal as the majority of the roles i've seen him he's either a normal guy or a detective or something, maybe he felt he had to distinguish between those sorts of roles, or maybe i've just seen him in alot of similar performances either way i liked him here as usual. He had good chemistry with Laraine Day, actually i don't think i've ever seen a movie where he has not had good chemistry with the female lead, he really is extremely charming and good at holding a believable and entertaining conversation regardless of the script; think Cary Grant is the actor i'd most like to hang out with guy was awesome. Never heard of Laraine Day looking at her filmography the only film i've heard of is Foreign Correspondent. She was very good, solid sparring partner and funny. Thought she was better at the comedy/light-heartedness than her more serious parts but she wasn't bad at either.

The story was fine. Some things like the 'golly gosh, he's a man and he's knitting like a woman' thing was outdated and pretty eyeroll worthy, i did crack up at Crunk teaching other guys how to knit in the next scene though. The only complaint i'd give is that it felt a little safe, i guess that's why it was a big success; seemed to be a story that would please everyone and probably was big on word of mouth in 1943. That doesn't mean i didn't enjoy it i just think some surprise or tonal shift or something could've made it a bit better for me. I guess it did get more serious as it went on but i'd have liked a little more as it was obvious that was coming considering the beginning. Just read Cosmics review and yeah Dorothy turning on Joe would have been something i liked, it certainly wouldn't be original but it would've been seriously unexpected to me at least. I did really like the reading of the letter and Joes principled speech after Dorothy phoned her grandad, was nice to see how he honestly was and he was obviously always lying and playing a bit during the first hour or so. It was a good idea to give him a reason other than Dorothy for having a change of heart.

Thanks for nominating gbg. Didn't love it but i think this would be a difficult film to dislike as it's very pleasant and engaging. Two or three left depending on Blix, Body and Soul then Ride The Pink Horse then i'm going to hold off to find out if Gentleman Jim is still in.